Exploding pager operation ‘planned for at least 15 years’

The operation to manufacture the pagers that exploded in Lebanon earlier this week, targeting Hezbollah members, had reportedly been planned for at least 15 years.

Planning the attack involved shell companies, with several layers of Israeli intelligence officers and their assets running a legitimate company that produced the devices, a US intelligence source told ABC News.

At least some of those carrying out the work were unaware of who they were ultimately working for, the outlet said.

The pager blasts on Tuesday and walkie-talkie explosions on Wednesday killed at least 37 people, including two children, and wounded nearly 3,000.

Taiwan’s economy minister has said the pagers that exploded in Lebanon earlier this week were not made in the East Asian country.

Gold Apollo, a Taiwanese company, has come under scrutiny after its brand was linked to the devices that injured approximately 2,750 people.

The company’s president and founder was questioned by prosecutors late into the night, before being released. 

“I can say with certainty they were not made in Taiwan,” said minister Kuo Jyh-huei, adding the case is being investigated by judicial authorities.

Gold Apollo has pointed the finger at Budapest-based company BAC Consulting, which denied the accusations.

But the New York Times reported BAC was one of three Israeli shell companies producing the pagers.

A Long Road

Money related to the sale of pagers to Hezbollah passed through Bulgaria, according to a report in the country.

As investigations into how and with whose help exploding pagers were given to the militant group, Bulgaria and Norway have become new focal points today.

It is not clear how and when the pagers were altered to remotely detonate, with the same question hanging over the hundreds of hand-held radios used by Hezbollah that exploded yesterday in a separate wave of attacks.

One theory is the pagers were intercepted and hooked up with explosives after they left factories, while another is Israel orchestrated the entire supply chain.

Bulgarian authorities said today the interior ministry and state security services are investigating a company’s possible ties, though they did not name the firm.

Local reports claim a Sofia-based company had facilitated the sale of the pagers to Hezbollah.

Citing security sources, national broadcaster bTV reported €1.6m (£1.34m) related to the transaction passed through Bulgaria and was sent to Hungary.

However, the pagers themselves did not enter Bulgaria, the report states.

Exploding pagers attack ‘seriously disrupted Lebanon’s fragile health system’ – WHO

Explosions in booby-trapped radios and pagers in Lebanon this week seriously disrupted its fragile health sector, the World Health Organization chief said.

The United Nations health agency cited the 37 people killed and more than 3,000 injured, according to Lebanese health authorities’ toll, in the pager blasts that detonated in areas considered strongholds of the anti-Israel militant group Hezbollah.

“These events have seriously disrupted Lebanon’s already fragile health system,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a news conference, adding that the global body had distributed blood supplies and trauma kits in the country.

“The whole health system came under immense pressure very, very quickly,” added WHO emergencies chief Mike Ryan at the same briefing.

WHO’s representative in Lebanon, Dr Abdinasir Abubakar, said 100 hospitals were involved in the response.

A series of drills ahead of the attacks and the stockpiling of emergency supplies helped prepare doctors and nurses in advance and limited the casualties, he said.